Hospital levy on November ballot

September 8, 2016

On November 8, local voters will be asked to decide on a two-year, $828,000 supplemental Boundary Community Hospital levy. A "yes" vote, hospital trustees say, will ensure that the local hospital can maintain its current standard of patient care while offering the community faster and better services. Boundary County Commissioners approved the ballot measure asking voters to approve a two-year supplemental levy, as allowed by Idaho law, to generate an additional $414,000 per year for hospital purposes for two years. If approved by a simple majority of voters, initial revenues would be realized no earlier than December, 2017. Accordingly, any voter-approved budget resources could first be utilized in the fiscal year 2017 county budget. Cost for the levy will be $48 per $100,000 in real property assessed value each year for two years after the homeowner exemption is applied. The hospital is requesting funding for specific equipment and/or capital improvements; not just a general fund request. As both residents and taxpayers, trustees fully appreciate that no one wants to pay additional taxes, themselves included. Nonetheless, they recognize and believe the community has acknowledged that an up-to-date, well-equipped hospital facility is essential to the health and welfare of county residents. It is vital for the local economy, they agree, to sustain adequate medical care and to meet government standards and codes to keep the hospital and nursing home in compliance, improve quality of service, address Life-Safety concerns and ensure that Boundary Community Hospital offers high quality, state-of-the-art care by providing the equipment and facilities for specialists to offer local clinics and surgeries, and to reduce turnaround time for test results to physicians for faster, more accurate diagnoses. "Technology has changed in the past 10 years and we need to keep up," trustees posted on the hospital website. "Newer equipment offers results that take less time, are more accurate and, in some cases, less expensive allowing your healthcare team to make better decisions for your care and treatment. "The Boundary County population (50% of which is over 45 according to the 2015 census) supports local health care and emergency care. As an older demographic moves into Boundary County, the more local options available to the community, the better community support will be for local businesses and the Hospital." The Hospital Board of Trustees is requesting $828,000 over two years to be spent as follows, if approved:   * $100,000 Main Fire Alarm Panel Replacement. This is a Life Safety requirement for the hospital and will be used to replace the vintage 1992 fire panel that is currently experiencing electrical issues. Parts are not readily available or no longer manufactured.   * $250,000 Climate Control System Upgrades for the Hospital and Nursing Home Building. The hospital would like to upgrade the outdated heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment by installing a Building Management Control System. This system will meet environmental requirements for the hospital while increasing patient comfort throughout the hospital and nursing home. Better controls and efficiencies should result in energy cost savings. In addition, Infection Control Filtering and Humidity Controls for the surgical suite would ensure more precise temperature and humidity control to meet government code compliance standards. An improved surgical suite could result in more specialists coming to Boundary County to perform surgeries.   * $202,000 Surgical Equipment. For general surgery, the hospital would like to replace the endoscopy scopes and instruments with state-of-the-art equipment. These new scopes would be easier to clean for infection control and have better imaging when you need a colonoscopy, endoscopy or gastroscopy. Also, warranty and service would reduce costs for repairs. Orthopedic surgery equipment includes a new arthroscopic instrument set and a shoulder traction device. With this equipment, Boundary County residents needing knee or shoulder surgery could get their procedures done here with latest technology and follow up physical therapy could be done through hospital outpatient rehabilitation.   * $126,000 Radiology Equipment. The C-Arm Portable X-Ray equipment moves around the patient and can be used by the emergency department as well as for orthopedic surgeries. Reduced radiation dose and increased patient safety while obtaining better quality images are reasons to replace the existing equipment. In June 2016, a new 64-slice Computerized Tomography (CT) Scanner was installed at Boundary Community Hospital. In order to expand testing options, they will need to purchase a new CT Injector for simultaneous injection of saline solutions to reduce the amount of intravenous contrast used for routine studies. In addition to using it for CT angiography and detailed abdominal studies, they would be able to do small vessel imaging.   * $150,000 Laboratory Equipment. New technology will allow faster analysis, in some cases hours vs. days faster, and obtain more accurate results with increased reliability while reducing tech time to set up tests. It will enable maintaining laboratory compliance with National Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute performance standards. Blood testing equipment to be purchased includes Hematology Analyzer with Five Part Auto Diff feature and automated Sedimentation Rate Analyzer that detects nonspecific inflammation in the body, which is a common test for arthritis and infection. Equipment for bacteria and virus testing includes a Microscan and Film Array with Gastrointestinal and Respiratory Panels. This equipment tests for 20 respiratory viruses and bacteria plus 22 common gastrointestinal pathogens that cause infectious diarrhea. Results are available within hours instead of days. As an essential part of the Anti-Microbial Stewardship program, this type of advanced virus testing will help avoid over-prescription of antibiotics.